Land Ahoy

During the night the wind had gradually died and we were barely making 5-6 kts. Keith and I whittled our night shift 2-5am by recalling all the TV shows we watched as kids. Funny how they stick in the memory.

We had breakfast in the morning sun and after we decided to make up some miles and turned on the engine which charged the batteries. Keith (Watson) decided to make some more bacon and egg sandwiches which went down well.

 When we had made up some miles and realised we were not going to make Madeira until Friday early hours we decided to tame the Red Baron again which had been tied to the deck as if nailed down. The connecting was slicker this time and up it went easily and obediently. We coasted along for some hours enjoying chats and a Spanish omelette which Mark made for lunch. By 4.00pm the wind had died further and so we brought down the Red Baron, tied it to the deck and went on to motor again.  We wondered why we had not seen dolphins and I thought there would not be any so far from land and as if on cue 4 dolphins appeared out of the blue and played around the boat before disappearing. A magical moment.

 As supper drew near there was a shout of land ahoy and we could see Porto Santo a mountainous Island about 30-35 nm away which is about 20nm from Madeira. We were nearly there and there was growing excitement amongst the crew. We dined on sausages and mash and broccoli watching Porto Santo gradually draw closer.

After 4 days at sea, we were nearly at our destination.

It takes a little time to travel 30 miles, so we had ample time to see the sun go down over Porto Santo and for its lights to gradually appear revealing houses creeping up the mountainous peak and it was evident that this Island was not deserted or that remote but clearly had a reasonable population. I wondered what it must have been like all those years ago when the Island was first discovered. There would have been no chart plotters or depth gauges and ships would have crept in with lead lines and with sight alone. As we drew closer there were signs of mobile phone signals as we all grabbed our phones which we had hardly touched for days which had been quite refreshing.

 Suddenly in front of us Madeira also began to appear with its lighthouse on the eastern point which can be seen for 20 miles. We could see all the lights of the houses, cars driving along roads and those of the airport. We pressed on and after another 15 miles we approached Funchal the capital. From our plan we had to identify the light on the end of the mole (pier) and then the green lights of the starboard points we needed to identify to see our anchorage. We had rung the marina earlier and they said they had no space. We crept in and it was about 3.30am. The lights of the town revealed a steep sort of ampetheatre with houses and lights all around going right up to a peak. We could see little wooden fishing boats on mooring buoys which we dodged and then came to the anchorage in which there was little room. However, we found a space which meant we were about 40 meters from the concrete wall. We then all went to bed being satisfied that we had arrived safe and sound. It had been 593 nm and had taken us 6 days. Great to be in Madeira and we look forward to exploring.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions – do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com